This afternoon, the U.S. Senate passed an overhauled immigration bill that will forge a more accessible path to citizenship for millions of undocumented residents while simultaneously vamping up security along the Mexican border. The bill passed in a bipartisan 68-32 decision marking the first major alteration to the immigration system since 1986.

In an uncharacteristic move, 14 Senate Republicans crossed party lines to join all of the Democrats and two Independents to help approve the sweeping vote.

The legislation, long awaited by many among the nation’s growing Hispanic population, would grant legal status to many of the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. It would also rewrite the rules for how future generations of foreigners are allowed to come to the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.

The House of Representatives won’t make it easy for the Senate, though, as the GOP-controlled house has vowed to keep the legislation from even receiving a vote. Speaker of the House John Boehner was noted saying, “We’re going to do our own bill … and move the legislation that reflects the will of our majority and the will of the American people.” However, the speaker refused to take a stance on whether or not there should be some kind of means to obtaining citizenship for those who entered the country illegally.